


Subverting Purpose

by Skysquid22



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Hank Anderson, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), Drunkenness, Fluff, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sorry Father/Son fans. This fic isn't for you., Swearing, no beta we die like men, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 01:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skysquid22/pseuds/Skysquid22
Summary: “I don’t see you as my father figure as CyberLife intended, what do you see in me?”-Just before the Revolution ends, Hank learns that CyberLife is after Connor for some unknown reason.He arrives and doesn't get what he was expecting.





	Subverting Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this with the support and encouragement of Quantum Fiddlesticks, canned-sunlight, and RedPaladin101. Thanks guys! This one-shot could've been unfinished for a long while.

“Connor!” Hank knocked harder on the oak door. He was wasting _time._ The date blinked in the corner of his vision, there was no timer, but yet he felt the rush of a clock ticking down. There was no logical explanation for this, he’d never felt such… anxiety, from a timed mission. All that confidence had disappeared once he accepted deviancy, did he have to look forward to this for the rest of his life?

He knocked again. _“Connor!”_ Uncertainty crawled into his processors and irrational missions filled his HUD. → Find Connor → Check on Connor → Assure Connor is safe → Keep Connor safe

Very redundant and very wasteful of his processing power. Then again, these irrational urges… weren’t they the point of deviancy? Regardless, he had to make sure Connor knew about CyberLife’s plans and wasn’t caught up in the ticking time bomb that would go off soon as the revolution ended. 

The door swung open and Connor stood in the doorway. Hank unconsciously scanned him. His yellow striped shirt looked rumpled more than usual, like he had been grabbing at it with a sweaty fist. Connor’s hair was worse, greasy and unkempt. Which was also not unusual, but part of it was flattened at an odd angle. He rubbed at the dark circles under his eyes, “Since when do you yell?” There were traces of alcohol on his lips. 

Hank shouldered his way through the door, as always, not caring for his entrance. Connor stepped out of the way with a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Come on in…” He followed a pacing Hank into the kitchen.

“CyberLife is after you. I don’t know why, but whatever secret you have on them they want to collect—”

Connor snorted as he passed by Hank. He sat down at the kitchen table and lounged back, at his feet Sumo looked up at Hank. He crossed his legs at the ankle and stared intently at him. “Yeah I figured that out .2 seconds soon as you talked to me for the first time.” He then reached reached for his glass of whisky, no doubt one of many, and broke eye contact. 

In an instant, Hank reached out and pinned his arm to the table. Once he followed through with the action he jerked back. Self-made commands he made over a month ago around when they first met stayed on his processors like a sticky residue. Now that he was deviant he had to work on actively stopping himself from following through with them. His large hand let up slightly on Connor’s pale and freckled forearm. Nither moved. Connor stared, but Hank looked away—unable to handle the sudden weight on his processors.

“I’m—sorry. I think—”

“You’re deviant.” Connor cut him off with sudden awe. The cockiness and depressive jokes dropped off and the Lieutenant looked up at him with a soft smile. Hank had a feeling that the faded Thirium 310 all over his _borrowed_ clothes wouldn’t make him happy. But it was best not to tell him any of that. He didn’t want to make Connor upset, not anymore, not when he had true control over his actions. “Oh don’t look so worried, I’m not going to turn you in.” Connor tilted his head, “Besides, I think that would just screw us both over.”

Right. CyberLife no longer had any real control but there were loose ends to tie up. If CyberLife was desperate enough in the first place to create Hank as an extractor of whatever Connor had on the tech giant, then they wouldn’t give up now. To the bitter end they would find a way to hurt Connor. And somehow Connor had figured out CyberLife’s plan?

“How did you know about my role in being your... manipulator...?” Hank moved his hand away and placed it flat on the table. 

Connor snorted and reached for his glass again. Hank easily put his hand back on Connor’s arm, this time of his own will. Connor relaxed and let the drink go. “They’re not fucking subtle about it. They sent the DPD a father figure for me to manipulated by.” Connor pulled out of Hank’s loose grasp and dragged a zippo and a nearly empty pack of cigarettes from the middle of his kitchen counter. “I don’t know which fuck let CyberLife know of my mommy and daddy issues or maybe they assumed, but either way I’ll make them suffer for it.” He brought a cigarette to his lips and lit it and was about to take a puff before Hank snuffed out the burning end with his fingers, ruining the cigarette. Connor glared and tossed the pack and zippo back across the table. “You’re deviant. You don’t have to keep me alive.” He said, suddenly much more morose.

Hank didn’t quite know how to get his emotions across the cheap wood table. There was something tugging within him that gravitated him towards Connor. He couldn’t place where or what it came from, only that it was never a part of ‘fatherly’ programs downloaded into him. Once he dropped them them caring for Connor became easier. Using this fire Hank vowed to keep it lit since, after all, going against what he was told created the feeling in the first place. 

With conviction, Hank leaned closer to Connor. He could taste the alcohol, sweat, and cologne in the air. “The instructions are still there, but it’s a choice to follow them. I don’t want to see you dead Connor.”

Connor stared at him, squinting slightly. He was looking for something on Hank’s face—honesty perhaps? It was hard to read Connor, he always seemed to be thinking five steps ahead so trying to figure out if his microexpressions related to the current conversation or some revelation for later tested Hank. Connor’s forward thinking matched Hank’s in that sense and the young Lieutenant used this skill effectively for negotiation. The most advanced and cohesive array of microexpressions at his disposal and still Hank couldn’t crack into what Connor was thinking half the time.

Connor slowly leaned forward and Hank stepped back, removing his hand and standing up slightly. Armed with a curious twitch of his mouth Connor asked a loaded question, “I don’t see you as my father figure as CyberLife intended, what do you see in me?”

Hank wanted to answer, but he stopped short once he realized he had nothing to say. What _did_ he see in Connor? Before, as a pure machine who stood up straight all the time and followed orders to a tee—until they got in the way—his programs told him to see Connor as someone to be taken care of. On CyberLife’s side, it was too easy to set up. The Lieutenant had been slipping in the past few years, supposedly from the impact of his mother’s death, so the DPD welcomed an android to support and keep him on the good path. 

Weaker in strength when compared to his younger brother, Connor had asthma, a problem with people telling him what to do, and according to some—too nice for the job.

Hank could still see and hear Cole in the Zen Garden using gaslighting tactics to get Hank to be a father figure and urging him to play by the rules of the game.

But now what? Hank was deviant. Cole disappeared from the Garden. He told CyberLife to fuck off and leave him and Connor alone. Hank felt more confident in himself, but in nothing else now and the consequence of that was to re-evaluate his relationships with those around him. “I... I’m not sure. Deviancy and emotions are... new to me. All I know is what I do feel about isn’t what CyberLife wants.” he scoffed, “That’s for sure.” Connor lit up and gave a killer smirk. 

Whatever he was looking for he must’ve found it. He stood up, wobbling slightly, and Sumo underneath him padded his way to Connor’s bedroom. “Thank you… for the warning Hank. I know that you probably have some loose ends the tie up out there so I’ll let you go. But please,” he said softly, his voice dripping with concern and contentment, “stay safe.” He grabbed Hank’s shoulder as he passed by and gave it a squeeze. 

Hank, unsure of the quick change, simply nodded and watched Connor shuffle over to his bedroom to join the giant Saint Bernard. There were a lot of questions Hank wanted to ask Connor, chief among them was the question of what exactly Connor had over CyberLife, but Hank instead spat out a question that had been digging under his skin for a long time. “Connor.”

“Hmm?” 

“Why didn’t it work? How did you figure it all out so quickly?” Hank hunched his shoulders further in retreat, “I’m aware this may be… personal, in nature. So you don’t have to answer me.”

Connor stopped at his bookshelf and turned towards him slightly. He looked away, apprehension coming off of him in waves. “Well.” He licked his lips and faced Hank. His chestnut eyes looked black under the limited lighting. “Let’s just say CyberLife knows my tastes.”

Hank cocked his head in confusion, “I’m not sure what you’re implying. Clarify?”

Connor grinned and bit his lip. “Oh come on Hank. It’s not like I wasn’t obvious.” He timidly sauntered back over, “Listen. I’m not not gonna lie, I hated everything about you when we first met. But... later I started to realize that I was getting over the android thing and began seeing you as a person.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and wobbled on his heels. He was still drunk so it was a miracle he didn’t fall over. “Which led to the realization that you’re exactly my fucking type.” Connor gave a breathy laugh and shrugged, “I can’t believe you didn’t notice. I was being pretty blatant when you came over before.”

A memory pinged Hank’s processors and he reviewed it quickly. Just before Hank set out and dealt with Jericho he came over to Connor’s house requesting clothing for his mission. Connor was reluctant at first, but he must’ve realized that arguing with Hank was pointless. So Connor tried to make the best of it by snarking around and asking Hank to not leave a man to drink alone. Connor relented gave him clothes for his infiltration. As he left, he heard Connor snark to him, _“Go get ‘em, trophy case.”_

Hank looked down at his clothes, “These were from your previous relationships.”

“Yeah, I’ve been a muscular twig my entire life.” Connor shook his head, “None of _my_ clothes would fit you. My ex boyfriend’s clothes that they left and I now hold as trophies on the other hand...” He whistled and giggled, finally falling backwards in a drunken dance. Hank, of course, reached out a hand to steady him. Connor looked up at him and gave a sweet smile. “You’re a deviant fresh off the presses Hank. Emotions are hell, but you’ll get used to ‘em.” 

Connor stood back up and stepped closer to him. Unsure how to react, Hank’s hands stayed at Connor’s side, lightly pressing his shirt into warm skin. Connor put one hand on his shoulder, leaning his arm against Hank’s chest, while the other drifted up to his cheek. Unconsciously the skin there flickered, briefly showing the white chassis underneath. Connor didn’t seem to care. “Come back once you’ve figured things out. I’ll be here for you.” He said, with a slight grin which solidified the promise. 

Without another word, he broke contact with Hank who tried to follow his warmth and tenderness before he caught himself. Connor shambled back to his bedroom without another word or glance over the shoulder and closed the door, leaving Hank wondering.

**Author's Note:**

> I was too lazy to get this properly edited by people. Besides, the people who I usually would ask to edit would've ended up with this fic early since this ended up as a gift to them. I'm not entirely sure how to write these two but when I outlined this I loved the dialogue I made for Connor so I'm glad I got to use it. I may get around writing more of Reverse AU since it's so fun. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
